Addressing contradictions in teachers’ practice through professional learning: an activity theory perspective

ABSTRACT

This case study focuses on the professional learning of 38 K-9 teachers who engaged in a professional development (PD) programme in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) through collaborative action research (CAR). Through the lens of CHAT or Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, the author examined what teachers were learning, the contextual factors that influenced their learning and classroom practice, and the outcomes of this PD initiative. The changing activity system of the teachers is described, as well as how they addressed contradictions in their practice. Addressing these contradictions resulted in an expansion of their object and professional growth. The study contributes to a growing body of research in teacher education which applies CHAT as a conceptual framework to understand teacher professional learning and how interactions among activity system components influence teachers’ development and practice.     

自我导向性学习与教师专业发展

教师专业发展具有个体性、主动性、内在性等特征，而自我导向性学习则能很好地适应教师专业发展的这些特点。文章在介绍自我导向性学习的含义与特点的基础上，对自我导向性学习与教师专业发展的关系以及如何促进教师的自我导向性学习进行了阐述。     

Theoretical Resource

Teacher professional development at second level in Irish schools has become an important issue for those of us concerned about ensuring quality teaching and learning in the classroom. In-service providers are aware that the models of provision that have been used in the past are no longer adequate to meet the professional needs of a modern teaching force. This article explores the nature of action research as a possible vehicle to provide opportunities for quality professional development for teachers. The article examines how the newly formed Second Level Support Service and the School Development Planning initiative might provide the impetus for a change in policy and a context for an action research approach to facilitating quality teacher professional development.     

Large-scale teacher professional development endeavor: the Lincoln Tri-State Institute

This article explores a two-year professional development initiative with four state geographic alliances. Professional development planners, whether planning for a large- or small-scale initiative or one with unlimited or limited funding, will benefit from learning about this successful professional development activity and how the impact in the lives of teachers and students was measured. The actual process of this professional development and the assessment methods that were used throughout the entire two years are both noteworthy and could serve as a model for others.     

Integration of the practice of mindfulness within action learning as an added component within a post graduate leadership programme: an account of practice

This account of practice provides a practical example of the use of mindfulness practice within action learning which was a component of a bespoke UK Business School post-graduate leadership development programme commissioned by an English NHS Mental Health Trust aimed at improving the leadership capacity of mid-level managers through work-based learning. The article discusses background and context of the programme followed by how application of mindfulness exercises was integrated within the action learning process to encourage participants to be ‘in the moment’ as an added component of their leadership development. The aim of the paper is to share examples of practice applied within action learning. Finally, the paper asserts that the application of mindfulness exercises helped to enhance the action learning process by creating a calm, focused space for individual and collective reflections, enhancing the quality of engagement and enabling action learning members to take a more pragmatic approach to addressing the work issues raised within the action learning sets.     

学习型城市建设探讨

知识经济时代,学习已成为促进城市发展、人自身发展的不二选择。本文立足激发学习者学习的主动性,从学习型城市建设的重要意义、构成条件及建设要素等方面探讨如何构建学习型城市,旨在寻求学习型城市建设的途径。     

Using activity theory to evaluate a professional learning and development initiative in the use of narrative assessment

Analysis of the impact of professional learning and development (PLD) programmes for educators is complex. This article presents an analysis of a PLD initiative in which classroom teachers learned to use narrative assessment for students with ‘high’ and ‘very high’ learning needs. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), the analysis showed how various tensions arose across the activity system of participants during the initiative. Tensions were associated with the roles of those involved, the narrative assessment approach, and the rules of the initiative. While the new narrative assessment approach resulted in benefits for the students and their parents, role conflict emerged in relation to established assessment approaches already used by the educators. It is argued that CHAT enables a more nuanced understanding of the complex ways in which teachers actually engage with official curriculum, pedagogy or assessment PLD initiatives, than do theories that position teachers as simply resistant to change.     

Promoting higher levels of reflective writing in student journals

This paper traces the development over several years of an initiative involving student journals that was introduced into a tertiary science education course for pre‐service teachers to promote enhanced learning of how to teach science. Very soon after introducing the journals into course work the lecturer began engaging in ‘unplanned’ informal reflection (reflection‐in‐action and reflection‐on‐action) when she witnessed the shallow, often trivial nature of her students’ reflective writing and the lack of pedagogical insights they were gaining from the exercise. Motivated by her own ongoing scholarship the lecturer introduced purposeful coaching of reflective skills into her pedagogy to scaffold students’ learning and promote more useful reflection. The impact of these interventions on students’ reflective capabilities and learning were investigated using a formal action research cycle. Findings indicate that student teachers’ reflective skills improved and resulted in deeper and more focused thinking about how to teach science for learning.     

Defining,Assessing, and Promoting E‐Learning Success: An Information Systems Perspective*

This research advances the understanding of how to define, evaluate, and promote e‐learning success from an information systems perspective. It introduces the E‐Learning Success Model, which posits that the overall success of an e‐learning initiative depends on the attainment of success at each of the three stages of e‐learning systems development: system design, system delivery, and system outcome. To study this model, an online version of an undergraduate quantitative methods core course for business students is developed using a prototyping strategy. Four cycles of development are traced, each comprised analysis, design, implementation, testing, and enhancement. Findings from the study confirm the validity of using the proposed success model for e‐learning success assessment. In addition, an action research methodology is also found to be a valuable impetus for promoting e‐learning success through an iterative process of diagnosing, action planning, action taking, evaluating, and learning.     

Long-term outcomes of educational action research projects

The outcomes of action research are examined through the 90 projects supported by the Action Learning Project. This was an initiative that aimed for quality enhancement of teaching and learning through supporting academics to engage in action research projects addressing some aspect of courses they taught. The evaluation of the individual projects indicated that almost all were successful in introducing the promised reform or innovation and of impacting for the better upon the learning of students enrolled in the target courses. There were also longer-term outcomes associated with engaging in the process of action research. The large majority of the participants felt that they perceived the following longer-term benefits: a lasting improvement to their teaching; a knowledge of how to conduct action research; development of their capacity to monitor and reflect upon their own teaching; and better teamwork skills. About half the participants felt they had also had some impact upon others in their departments. Overall, these longer-term outcomes indicate that action research by teachers is a highly cost-effective means of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning.     

Personal Learning Planning: Can Tutoring Improve Pupils' Learning?

This article explores the impact of a Personal Learning Planning (PLP) initiative on pupils' understanding of, and confidence in, learning. The cornerstone of the initiative was a one–to–one, or small group, discussion between Year 9 students and their class tutor. This resulted in a written personal learning plan. The benefits and weaknesses of the initiative are discussed and the interrelationships between action planning, one–to–one tutoring and learning are explored.     

LEAD at lunch: inquiry,learning, and action

This account of practice discusses the author's experience in facilitating a small group of managers in health care over lunchtime utilizing an action learning approach. This was part of a larger leadership development initiative which took place in the organization and the intention was to create a more intimate, informal and safe setting whereby the group could further delve into the collaborative learning process, explore issues around leadership, garner feedback about the formal programming, gain insight into larger organizational issues, and perhaps develop strategies for change. Outcomes achieved include better meeting management, revision of an organizational communication forum, the development of a training program for performance management, as well as plans for more collaboration with upper administration and the development of a mentoring program. In summary, this venue created a supportive space whereby all aspects of a problem could be explored and resolutions could be formulated and acted upon.     

Action learning in the BBC

This account tells the story of the development of an action learning culture in the BBC between 2002 and 2007. From its early beginnings as a sporadic, unsystematic intervention with a small number of leaders scattered throughout the organisation, action learning has now become embedded in our approach to the way we develop our leaders. In this paper we look at the organisational context in which we were developing action learning, the way it became an integral part of a systemic change intervention, the barriers we had to overcome on the way, how we built an internal resource capability and how action learning evolved. We evaluate the impact it has had on the organisation and on our practice, exploring lessons learned during this time and offering ideas for the way ahead.     

Refreshing The Parts Other Teachers Cannot Reach

This article explores the impact of a Personal Learning Planning (PLP) initiative on pupils’ understanding of, and confidence in, learning. The cornerstone of the initiative was a one–to–one, or small group, discussion between Year 9 students and their class tutor. This resulted in a written personal learning plan. The benefits and weaknesses of the initiative are discussed and the interrelationships between action planning, one–to–one tutoring and learning are explored.     

教有所为,学有所用——最近发展区理论对翻译教学研究的启示

分析维果茨基＂最近发展区＂理论,把＂最近发展区＂理论应用于英语专业的翻译教学实践中,主张翻译教学的目的是通过提供教学支架,发挥学生自主学习的主动性;反对以教师为中心,以改错为手段的传统翻译方法,真正做到教师教有所为,学生学有所用的教学目的。     

在制度文化建设中促进大学生学习观念的养成

在新的形势下如何激发大学生学习的积极性、主动性和创造性,促进其全面和谐发展,是一个重要的课题。从学校制度文化的角度来看,教师影响、教学制度建设、学校制度建设对促进大学生学习观念的养成,促进大学生全面和谐发展,影响深远。     

An action learning approach to partnership in community development: a reflection on the research process

Green space offers a significant environmental resource that can improve the individual experience of health and quality of life. However, barriers exist that prevent the use of green space, and partnership (multi-agency) working has the potential to overcome these. Current public health policy aims to broaden the range of environmental public health intervention through effective partnership working. In response to this, a community development partnership project (Stepping Stones to Nature) was established in the south west of England to improve green spaces in neighbourhood communities through engagement and consultation. Integral to this project was an initiative to research the process and experience of partnership working. The aim of this paper is to report the experience of the multi-agency group guiding the research process and how they used an action learning approach to explore their experiences and guide the research process. Halfway through the project a ‘formal’ focus group discussion was arranged in order to capture the reflective thinking and learning that had taken place. The focus of this paper is on the data from that group discussion. Four main themes were evident from the data: expectation/perceptions; stakeholder involvement; tensions (at organisational and individual levels); and reflection and learning (through the partnership and research process). This paper reflects the different expectations of the research process that need to be identified early in partnership research in order that they can be appropriately managed.     

The cost of performance? Students' learning about acting as change agents in their schools

This paper explores how performance culture could affect students' learning about, and disposition towards, acting as organisational change agents in schools. This is based on findings from an initiative aimed to enable students to experience acting as change agents on an aspect of the school's culture that concerned them. The initiative was informed by contemporary practice and concerns in the field of student voice, and worked with a systemic action research approach focused on organisational dynamics. This research found that students' understanding of, and disposition towards doing, organisational change, seemed to be affected by how their internalisation of performance culture mediated with their concern to maintain their organisational status. Based on the theory of organisational socialisation, it argues that this may lead to a learnt inhibition towards doing organisational change in students who struggle with their organisational status in schools.     

Reflecting and learning together: action research as a vital element of developing understanding and practice

This article details how an action research/reflective practitioner approach added value to the efforts of participants who were engaged in developing their practice and working together within a New Labour area-based policy initiative. The process of reflecting and learning together in the project supported practitioners in thinking, learning about, designing, engaging in and changing elements of their practice according to the evidence they had gathered. A key element of the article is how the notion of reflection ‘in’ action and ‘on’ action (Schön) supported people from different backgrounds and settings in understanding and developing their practice through improving self-knowledge and confidence and, in turn, their knowledge of other perspectives. The article raises issues in relation to the use of action research at the interface between micro- and macro-development, individual and group work, and worker and manager perspectives. It concludes by suggesting some of the issues that those engaged in further development of innovative, interagency and interdisciplinary projects might need to address if an action research/reflective practice model of working together for change is to be made more widely available, relevant and useful.     

谈市场营销专业实行工学结合教学模式之历程

从第一批的"寻找"岗位到第五批的"筛选"岗位,我们见证了市场营销专业工学结合项目由弱到强的成长历程.分析具体案例,探讨工学结合中应如何增强自身实力,掌握合作的主动权,如何充分利用主动权,筛选工作岗位,如何与企业合作,更好的达到双赢的目标.